Times Between Us
by Nairobi-Harper
Summary: A Zack/Kimi drabble. 500 words each chapter.
1. School

**This will be a Zack/Kimi story, and that shall be the main couple. Yes, there will be side couples, of course, although they will not receive as much attention. My goal is to make the drabble five-hundred words. Each will have a theme. Our first theme shall be school. Summer has recently begun, yes, although through this drabble; you will see how very much I dislike school.**

 **THEME: SCHOOL**

Long ago, Kimi had decided that there was nothing more boring than school itself.

Everyone would always tell her that school was very important and that everything she was learning would help her later in life, but why should she believe that? Truthfully, she thought that most of the things she was currently learning were the things that she wouldn't need as an adult.

In fact, her parents assumed that it was because of this that she had brought home B's, C's, _and_ D's on her report card last week. The girl hadn't brought home a single A compared to her older brother, whose report card had mostly been A's. Little did they know, her lack of school excitement wasn't the only thing keeping her from studying, let alone paying any attention in class.

A cute little boy in her class was keeping her from paying attention to things. Kimi liked nearly everything about him. His intelligence, his smile, his teeth, oh, she could go on about it for days! This little boy had been one of her friends for a while. His name was Zack.

Zack had no interest in talking to her during class, especially during math. No, it was Kimi who had interest in talking to him. She really would have liked to, although he'd just give her the quiet sign. He really did want to study during class, and she would be distracting him from that. It was understandable, she supposed. He really liked making his Aunt Celeste proud with A's.

Since she couldn't talk to him during class, she improvised. As opposed to speaking to him, she'd stare at his blonde hair with a grin. It sounded cheesy, although she thought his hair was perfect. A bit messy, in truth, but that was the way she liked it. While staring at him with a lovesick grin, she'd think about how badly she wanted to run her fingers through his hair.

She often thought about what it would feel like. Would it be soft? She bet that it would be as soft as a cushion.

Kimi stared at him so very often that she was surprised to learn that no one had caught her staring at him yet. Her best friend, Lil, was the only one who knew that she stared at Zack so very much.

After a long lecture from her father, Kimi finally went to bed.

"Tomorrow, I will get over Zack, and I won't stare at that wonderful hair of his," Kimi thought hopefully with a smile.

As soon as she got to Mrs. Briggs' class and took her seat, though, Mrs. Briggs began teaching the worst subject of the day; math.

"What could be more boring than this?" Kimi thought as her teacher failed to explain addition.

Deciding that there was nothing else to do, she turned to Zack and, as usual, stared at the back of his head with a lovesick grin.


	2. Bruises

**I received three reviews; two from very nice people, Boris Yeltin and celrock, and one from an evil person. However, I have decided to ignore the last review because I already have plans for them. For those two of you who wanted it, here is our second theme. Zack is a year younger than Kimi, yes, although he's in her class because I imagine that he would be moved up. I mean, he is rather intelligent. I refuse to refer to this as 'chapter two' because it truthfully is not a chapter. Anyway, in this chapter, look for why Zack refused to… oh, gosh, I'm giving it away! Just telling you that you might find signs of the Zack/Kimi couple.**

 **I won't aim for the five-hundred, although I will aim for one-thousand words. It will indeed change.**

 **THEME: Bruises**

At eight-years old, Kimi Finster was already a legend.

No, she was not such a legend that everyone in the world knew her; she wished that could happen, although it had not yet. She was simply a legend around the school.

Now, why, you might ask, would one name an eight-year old girl a legend? It was because she, for a girl, could run the quickest at school.

That must have sounded ridiculous, although it was true. Kimi had raced fifth-graders before just to prove to them that she was a better runner; and she always won, too.

In truth, Kimi had raced just about everyone at school. Younger kids, her older brother, most of her friends, you know. She could get anyone to race her!

Well, except for one boy, that is. His name was Zack. Zack was known as one of the quickest boys at school. He came in third place next to one of the fifth-graders and another boy in their class, Michael.

Kimi could never understand why Zack always refused to race her whenever she requested it. It stunned her and even made her a bit angry. What made him think that he was so darn important that he could not race her? Was it because she was a _girl_?

Kimi had become so caught up with the idea of racing Zack that she did not even realize that, for a third-grader, she was becoming obsessed with it, too. In fact, every day she would take ten minutes off from doing homework just to devise a plan on how to get Zack to race her. Once she realized that this was insane, she questioned why she was even doing this. However, she never gave herself an answer.

Eventually, Kimi did get Zack to race her. To her chagrin, however, it was near the end of the school year. In other words, the poor girl had spent nearly eight months attempting to get one boy to race her. It sounded pathetic; it really did, although she couldn't be happier that she had finally gotten Zack to agree!

On this sunny May day, the two had just finished preparing for their race. The final race before they would both enter fourth-grade.

"Ready to race, Zack?" Kimi asked teasingly.

The shorter boy grinned. "I just prepared for it, didn't I? Of course I'm ready to race you!"

Their friend, Tommy, stood on the side, with a whistle in his hand. "Okay, so when I blow the whistle, you guys start running, okay? When I blow it again, the race is over."

Kimi briefly frowned once he said the last part, but only because she never wanted this race with Zack to end. She didn't know why, though.

"I'm gonna keep track of both of your running speeds," Chuckie explained. "Phil and Lil will tell you guys what you could work on after. The rest of the people here are the audience. Once the race is finished, we can all go home."

The two nodded.

"On your marks, get set, go!" Tommy yelled, blowing his whistle.

They both started running.

At first, they were at about the same pace. Well, until Zack decided that he needed to speed up, that is.

Zack sped up rather considerably for a boy who was barely eight. His blonde hair blew in the wind, and it, to Kimi's disappointment, managed to distract her.

In fact, the young boy's hair distracted her so very much that she didn't see an upcoming rock.

"Kimi!" Tommy shouted. "Rock!"

However, he was a few seconds late, because Kimi fell onto her gluteus maximus anyway.

Apparently, Zack had heard the older girl fall, along with Tommy's loud yelp. Luckily, for her, though, he hadn't seen it. Zack immediately turned around and his eyes widened once he saw Kimi sitting on the cement, looking as if she were about to cry.

He ran over to her with a worried expression on his face. In fact, everyone was worried, and had no trouble showing it.

"Kimi, are you okay?" Chuckie asked.

"Do I look like I'm okay?" Kimi exclaimed, taking a tone that none of them thought she could.

"Oh, no," Phil whispered, shaking his head. "Looks like when she fell she broke her nice bone, too."

"That's not it at all, you idiot!" Kimi shouted. "Argh! Someone help me!"

Zack decided that since he was clearly the only one who could think right now, he would try his best to help her. He knew that since they had been outside for thirty minutes longer than they should've been that they would be in trouble, especially since Kimi was now injured, but he was willing to get in trouble if it were for her.

"Tommy, could you go get your mom?" Zack requested.

Tommy simply nodded quickly and ran off to fetch his mother, Didi.

"The rest of you guys can go on home," Chuckie told them before Zack could say anything else. "There really isn't much of a show anymore."

Most of them noticeably flinched, most likely because they knew that they would be in trouble, although once they saw the stern looks on both Chuckie and Zack's faces, they ran off.

"Kimi, I am so sorry," Zack whispered, looking truly sorry. "I should have never agreed to race you."

Kimi gave him her best smile – well, for a girl with bruises, that is. "It's alright. Don't feel remorseful."

A few minutes later, Didi, Tommy, and Dil came back with a First Aid kit.

"Zack, I'm afraid that I had to call your Aunt Celeste," Didi told him. "In fact, I called all of your mother's." The woman shook her head sadly. "They're going to be so disappointed."

They both, however, felt that it was worth it.


	3. Moving Away

**I will begin by apologizing for this section taking so long, especially to fans of this story who have been waiting. Not sure if you noticed, but I updated 'Sleep Tight' barely even a minute ago, and hope that you'll like this section. As some of you know, I originally had different ideas for this section, though changed my mind. I am also going to update chapter three of my story 'Bad Haircut' that I recommend you check out, and chapter four of 'Kira's Birthday,' which, I definitely want to get up before September. Heck, if I'm not too busy today, maybe you guys can get two or three chapters out of me on 'Kira's Birthday' but, not too sure about that yet. The italics mean are Kimi's thoughts. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this section, since I'm gonna update a few more stories, reply to a few emails, and then buzz out after that (sleep.)**

 **Theme: Moving away**

On this bright summer day, many, as opposed to surfing the internet, were having fun outside with family and friends. It seemed that a certain twelve-year old girl was the exception.

As opposed to having fun with her family, Kimi was instead lying on her bed, her hands pressed on the fabric of her shirt, staring at the ceiling. It was clear to her family that she was depressed, and didn't want any help, which resulted in them leaving her alone. Whenever a girl who was usually joyous like Kimi was moody, that meant to her family that they should stay away.

Anyone who actually knew Kimi understood why she always felt so depressed once this day of the year came up. There were numerous reasons why depressive thoughts came to her on this very day, though there were two main reasons that she hated discussing.

The first reason was that one of her friends, Zack, had moved away a few years ago. Despite never telling him, she had always had a crush on him, which only developed more and more over the years. By now, even though she didn't know much of what love was, Kimi was sure that what she felt for Zack could be considered love. Excluding a few things, she loved everything about him, and originally planned to tell him her feelings. However, after he moved to Wheeling with his Aunt Celeste, things were ruined from there on. They talked to each other on the phone whenever possible, though Kimi still didn't feel that was enough. It wasn't worth much to her if she couldn't actually see him, hug him, and just never let him go!

Tears fell down her cheeks as she thought of this. Her love for Zack only developed in strength as the days went on, and he not being there for them, for _her,_ really did hurt.

That only led onto her second reason for the depressed feeling she felt whenever this time of the year came up; it always reminded her that her childhood was gone.

To an adult, that would sound silly, though at twelve, changes had happened, and things were nothing like they were before.

Kimi remembered dearly when she was a little girl, running around happily with her friends, no issues getting her down. When Zack was still there, smiling at her with his gracious smile whenever she agreed with him, and comforting her if she felt down.

Another tear rolled down her cheek at this thought. The wonderful memories of laughing with her older brother in the backyard, fooling around with their parents, daydreaming about Zack… if she could, she'd live through those days again.

 _I want it all back. That's all I want, is to have that back._

With great sadness, she continued to remember moments from her days as a toddler. Though the memories were blurry, to Kimi, they still felt real. Depressing, though real.

 _It's alright, Kimi. You'll continue to make new memories with Zack once he comes home from Wheeling. Not sure when that will be, but it'll happen._

Though not feeling completely better, she managed to sit up and wipe her eyes, before lying back down on her bed, continuing to stare at the ceiling as she daydreamed about Zack being there.

 _He'll come back, Kimi. You just need to wait. Wait for him, and he'll come when the day is right. It'll take a long time, possibly, but you need to be patient. Soon, you'll know that he loves you like you love him. Just wait._

 **Okay, that's a finish with this section! Quite a bit short, I know, though not only did I feel that it fits this story, but I'm also tired.**

 **At one in the morning, new ideas are racing through my head for stories, but I have to keep focused on others, so I'll just write them down. My next story will be a prequel to my barbecue story, which will hopefully be uploaded soon. Oh, and, yeah, I know I need to update 'Moments' before the end of summer, too, and I did get a recent idea for that, so, yeah, you can expect that!**

 **Thank you for reading this section, I hope you enjoyed it, since I'm going to bed in around an hour or so. I'll watch an episode of 'Steven Universe' before bed.**


	4. Nostalgia

**I hope you guys are excited to see another section here from me! I have plans for another Rugrats/Inside Out crossover soon, suggested by olaughlinhunter, which I hope to upload sometime next week.**

 **I wrote this because suddenly, the nostalgia from elementary school all came back to me; how I'll never play on the playground again, how I'll never write chalk with friends like I did in kindergarten, how I'll never have easy homework, and just memories of how fifth-grade graduation went, with all of us crying and saying that we'd miss each other as we exited that school. Maybe I do feel a bit too strongly about my days in elementary school, but I am sure that it is healthy to miss things, as shown in the movie 'Inside Out.' If I pretended not to miss elementary school, then I'd only be bottling up my feelings, like Riley did, and anyone who has seen the movie knows how that ended.**

 **As for lies filling Kimi's head, the same happens with me whenever I'm upset. I begin to think out of nowhere about life's issues, such as people not being immortal, the small amount of time I spend with my parents, how I have to go off to college soon, and just how much better things were when I was in kindergarten. Y'know, when I had no responsibility, could cry whenever I wanted to, and could play with my friends… who have all pretty much left me since middle school.**

 **That, and I'm at the stage in my life where I, even if I usually refuse to admit it, believe that** _ **me**_ **crying is something that I shouldn't share with relatives and others. I began to realize around nine that my parents truthfully have a difficult time sympathizing; they often tell me that whatever I'm crying about is 'ridiculous' and that I'm worrying about nothing. Whenever I do finally cry, I'll tell you now that I am worrying about something, whether it's stress, nostalgia, how I will die someday, etc. I suppose that my Sadness is just either being really selfish at the moment, I have a lot of feelings that I didn't know about, or my Sadness is just stronger and sadder than Riley's Sadness.**

 **I just… do you ever feel that way? I do a lot nowadays. So much stress is coming to me, and I can't take it all.**

 **I will most likely do a few sections about Kimi's reaction to Zack moving; this is one of them.**

 **THEME: Nostalgia**

On this June day, the majority of students were sighing in relief at the idea of summer vacation. It was no different in Yucaipa.

However, at a certain elementary school, the fifth-graders certainly weren't doing so. On the same day as the last day of school, a fifth-grade graduation ceremony was going on. Out of their group of friends, only Kimi and Chuckie were celebrating it, because though they themselves were in the same grade, the majority of their friends were younger.

The ceremony included music, punch, and, at least for Kimi, a lot of nostalgia.

There she was, the only fifth-grader sitting on the bench while the other kids drank punch and partied with their music teacher for the last time. _They_ were having fun, and even if they did feel nostalgia like she did, they certainly felt it in a different way. It wasn't as if she were alone, though; a few kids were crying, though it seemed that only their parents showed any sympathy for them. The other kids felt it, but they didn't feel that it was their place. It wasn't the same with Kimi; she'd have showed sympathy for them, only if she didn't feel the same.

' _After today, I'm never going back to this school again,'_ Kimi thought sadly. ' _I'll never have all the same memories that I used to have. I'll never re-live nearly falling asleep while the boring old first-grade teacher tried to teach. I'm… never going to eat those little cupcakes that parents gave us whenever there was a birthday in our class. Never going to laugh and play with Lil again – she threw me in the trash for Wally. I'm… never going to play on the playground… with Zack.'_

The thought of Zack still not being there for her didn't make her feel any better. It only made her feel more nostalgia, and lies filled her head.

' _Even if he did come back, he wouldn't love you. He probably has his eyes on some other girl now, I mean, it's been over a year, he's not going to care that you're available once he comes back… if he comes back.'_

By now, her throat was beginning to get that funny feeling that it always got when she was about to cry, and attempting to bottle up her emotions. Recently, it had begun failing more and more, especially since half the time, a part of her mind didn't want her to cry, but she also felt that she _needed to_. It was just that this wasn't one of those situations where she could do so in front of everyone.

Her eyes began to water, though she felt that she was doing a good job at keeping the tears in.

' _What if Zack… no, I can't think about that, he's alive and well and he'll call you after this graduation ceremony,'_ Kimi thought.

Of course, this only focused her mind on other horrid thoughts, which only led her back to Zack.

' _What if he left… b-because of me?'_ Kimi thought, once again attempting to hold in her tears out of fear that she'd be called a crybaby.

Obliviously, this wasn't true, though if she had gotten upset enough, Kimi tended to think of lies just to let more sadness out.

It appeared that her parents were beginning to notice how upset she was, even if she hadn't noticed it yet. Her heart began pumping faster and suddenly, so many feelings came to her at once.

"Kimi-san, are you alright?" Kira asked with sympathy.

Unable to take it anymore, Kimi began crying, before running out of the school, somewhat embarrassed.

Sitting on the sidewalk, she continued to quietly weep, feeling miserable about the nostalgia and Zack.

' _He is never coming back,'_ Kimi thought, sniffling. ' _How could he love me? I'm just any normal old girl, when he could find any special girl out there for himself. I mean, it wouldn't be surprising. I guess I understand why he_ _ **really**_ _moved now. The universe just hates me, which is why they made it so that he and his Aunt Celeste had to move._

Eventually, Kimi got up, still feeling upset. She took a few steps backwards, staring at the school plaque with nostalgia, sadness, and a teeny, unnoticeable, feeling of joy.

' _Last time I'll ever be on school grounds for more than an hour,'_ she thought.

By now, seemed that her Sadness had slowed down on the controls, with any feelings of pure sadness that she felt slowly disappearing. However, she still did feel upset, and therefore simply stared at the plaque with sad thoughts.

' _I remember when I was only four and Zack and I would color while we laughed,'_ she thought. ' _Those were the days. I never thought we – or I – would end up like this, I just thought he'd stay with me forever. It was just so unpredictable when he moved and left me here to deal with middle school crap all by myself. It's upsetting.'_

Sighing, Kimi sat down, staring at the sandbox. The same sandbox that she and Zack would play with in first-grade, back when everything was okay, when she wouldn't be crying about something like this right now.

' _I used to find the positivity in everything, and look at me now,'_ Kimi thought. _'Oh, how I've changed.'_

Barely even a second later, Chuckie walked outside, frowning at Kimi. Seeing that she was sitting at the sandbox, he sat down with her.

"I'm assuming that you're not okay because of what happened back there," Chuckie said. "Is it because you'll miss elementary school?"

Slowly, though not speaking, Kimi nodded, and simply refused to explain the other part to him out of dignity.

"Awe, I know how that feels. Remember, I was really upset about entering fifth-grade?"

Nearly as soon as he stated this, the memory came back to Kimi.

"Oh, yeah," Kimi whispered. "You ran around screaming for half the day and I tried to comfort you."

Chuckie simply chuckled as he looked back on the idea, feeling that he had acted simply ridiculous that day, along with wanting to comfort Kimi.

This was why it only made him frown when he realized that Kimi hadn't laughed. He realized that she was too upset to care, or even laugh. As a smart person, he knew that, since Kimi surely couldn't feel _that_ strongly about school, there must have been something else bothering her.

"Kimi, what else is hurting you?" Chuckie asked with sympathy. "You've never been _this_ depressed before, and I'm not stupid, so I know that missing elementary school can't be the only reason why you're so upset."

Kimi simply shook her head, and once again, her throat began to have that lumpy feeling that it always had when she was about to cry.

' _Again?'_ She thought. ' _I mean, right now?'_

It seemed that once again, she was feeling too strongly, and Chuckie _did_ seem supportive of her, and the tears all came out again.

"Oh, Chuckie!" Kimi sobbed. "Why did he have to leave?"

Since his sister rarely let out any sadness, this surprised him, especially when she looked to him for comfort and sympathy. He smiled sadly at her, unsure of how exactly he could comfort her, until a question came to him.

"Who?" Chuckie asked.

Kimi slightly leaned up.

"Zack," Kimi whispered, sniffling once again.

After she explained this to him, he felt stupid. As her older brother, he felt that he should've known this, and gotten the signal, instead of, at least in his mind, only making her feel worse.

"Oh, him," Chuckie said, frowning. "It's okay to miss him, Kimi. We're only human, and we form emotional bonds with other people. I understand how it left a mark on you when he left."

Of all the things, that Chuckie was good at, Kimi would say that it was his ability to emotionally connect to people, even if he barely knew them. With every tear they shed, or with every word they said, he was there for them to just listen. In other words, Kimi felt that his very best talent was empathy, even if he was rarely recognized for it. She thought that, for an eleven-year old, at least, he was rather mature in this aspect. She'd never know just exactly how he did it. Knowing that someone understood her only made her happier.

"Yeah, I guess I never thought of that," Kimi said. "I just… never expected this to happen, for him to leave with his Aunt Celeste and all. It was so unpredictable that I couldn't deal with it when it happened, and it resulted in this whole emotional backfire."

Chuckie nodded in understanding, glad that she was letting out her feelings to him – her true feelings, that is.

"As I said, it's always okay to miss him. I miss him, too, even if it's not in the way that you do."

Since she had never thought that anyone had realized, Kimi felt surprise.

"What?"

Attempting to lighten the mood, Chuckie giggled.

"Kimi, everyone knew – knows – about your crush on Zack… well, everyone except for Tommy and Zack himself."

Since Tommy had been oblivious to Kimi's very existence lately, it seemed, he had no idea of her crush on Zack, and had always assumed that they only had a very close friendship.

As for Zack, it seemed that he was usually more focused on school or something else to realize Kimi's crush on him. She had planned to confess her feelings for him, though he and his Aunt Celeste left before this could happen, and Kimi was left with unsureness on how Zack felt about her.

Of course, as a human, Kimi felt embarrassment once Chuckie explained to her that he and the others knew of her crush on Zack.

"But, how?"

"Kimi, it was oblivious. You stared at him in class, played with him the most, was nicer to him than everyone else, and I'm pretty sure that when you got dressed in the morning, you thought of what he would like."

Blushing, the ten 1/2 year old nodded, as this was all true, whether she'd like to admit it or not.

"Well, point is that he's gone now. No point in thinking about confessing my feelings if he's not even here."

Giving her a sideways smile, Chuckie put his hand on Kimi's shoulder.

"Kimi, he will eventually come back, you just need to have actual hope. If you don't think you'll get something then you won't. You want Zack back, right?"

Kimi nodded repeatedly.

"Well then, prove that to yourself first. It's normal to have feelings of doubt, but if you continue thinking that Zack won't come back, then it'll only come true. Why did you think that, anyway?"

The ten ½ year old only sighed.

"I just… even though he didn't say he would, I just got myself so happy, thinking that maybe he and his Aunt Celeste would come back from Wheeling just to visit… and this is really selfish, which only made me feel worse, but I thought they'd come back only to visit _me_. I guess that's all just a dream, though."

Not even Chuckie himself could deny that that thought was selfish, although he understood why she would think something like that, and could only sympathize.

"Kimi today's not your day. I know that, you know that. You just have to wait for your day, just like everyone else. You need to be patient, or your day might never come."

His last few words rang in her head as she realized that he was right.

' _He's right,'_ Kimi thought. ' _I need to stop moping and wait. Patience is the key, and I can't cry out life's problems. Crying is okay, too, just not all the time.'_

Looking at her, Chuckie felt happy once he realized that he had gotten through to her, and perhaps she'd follow his advice. Finally feeling joyful herself, Kimi looked up at him with a large smile.

"Chuckie that is the best advice I've ever heard in my life!" Kimi exclaimed, before hugging him.

Chuckie giggled before pulling out.

"You're welcome," He told her. "You can cry whenever you want to, just not to the point where you're completely depressed. You can always come and talk to me."

"Thank you, Chuckie," Kimi stated. "I feel like I can actually enjoy graduation now."

A smile dawned on his face, Chuckie nodded as his sister got up and ran back into the school. Once she had left, he got up and walked back inside.

' _Sympathy can apply to everyone,'_ He thought.

RUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATS

 **Okay people, I am happy to say that I have calmed down after writing this for thirty minutes. I'll tell you people all about how my first day of school was tomorrow, but let me say now that our teachers are all giving us work like we're in sixth-grade, and it's awesome! Tomorrow we're getting our first math textbooks with all the answers and stuff, and then next week we technically start math.**

 **I would upload this right now, at 9 pm on September first as I type this, but Fanfiction's profile thingy seems to be down, sadly, so you guys might have to wait another hour to read this. I guess that in some ways, this is good, because I not only have a section finished, but I can also work on other stories now, like that barbecue one that I kept talking about.**


	5. Sick

**I'm finally writing my first Zack-themed section, since I've been writing about Kimi for quite a while.**

 **By the way, Zack belongs to celrock.**

 **I apologize for having not been on in – what, forever? My teachers give out a lot of homework, especially since I take a few AP classes. I was lucky enough to get a B on my math test, and if I do extra credit, I can get a B+.**

 **On Wednesdays, my school offers free tutoring in math after school, so if I don't understand something, I might go there sometimes. It's from 3-5 pm, which, in your time, might be 6-8 pm. Just wanted to tell you guys that.**

 **I also have an after school program on Fridays which lasts from three to five, too. This Friday is an early dismissal day, at 12:30 pm (when I usually eat lunch,) so I'm going to pack myself a lunch tomorrow night and I'll stay there until about 2:30. My program always lasts two or three hours, and we do experiments.**

 **I have to complete an English assignment after doing this, and do not have that much time (it's about 7:30 pm here, and I have to go to bed in three hours,) though I will try to make this section as good as I can, especially since you guys have been waiting such a long time and this is my official return.**

 **THEME: Unfair**

With a stopped up nose, messy hair, and bags under his eyes, Zack wondered why he'd ever bothered coming to Wheeling.

Fall had come about, and he was beginning to feel sicker than ever. He'd always hated missing out on school, though because of his living establishments, Zack had already been out sick three times, and it was _only_ October!

If he'd have come knowing that such a place could make him feel so sick, both literally and figuratively, he surely would've hid back in Yucaipa, even if it didn't end up being the best decision.

As his Aunt Celeste, tired and upset, stood in the kitchen, pouring him repulsive medicine, Zack felt anger as he thought about the fun that he might be having if he were still in Yucaipa.

At least in Yucaipa, if he was sick, he would have his friends with him. They'd care that their good friend had a headache and a runny rose, even if they couldn't play with him for exactly that reason.

Perhaps if he and his Aunt Celeste were still in Yucaipa, she wouldn't be as grumpy. Zack had been taught from an early age that grumpiness usually, if not always, had something to do with stress.

'Well,' He thought, 'It's no wonder that I'm so angry, then.'

He grimaced at the wall. Not even the wall looked as good as it had in Yucaipa. It was an ugly brown color. His Aunt Celeste had discussed the possibility of painting the walls with him – blue, they'd decided, was a pretty enough color for such a home – though with the amount of time she was putting into work, neither of them knew when they'd do this.

He tried to tune out the sound of the tea that his Aunt Celeste was stirring, instead thinking about his friends back in Yucaipa.

Despite his horrid experiences, he'd been lucky enough to have a phone, and had been watching Tommy's Youtube videos lately. From his knowledge, things weren't going too well at home, either.

'They're certainly going better than they are at home, though,' He thought.

As if he'd known what he was about to do, Zack turned his head slightly to face the other side of his small bedroom.

On his dresser were pictures of his friends. Group pictures of them when they were babies, Tommy's fourth birthday party, his first Christmas with them, Kimi's first play…

He stared at the picture of Kimi, as he slowly began to remember parts of the play.

When she had been in third-grade, Kimi's teacher had requested that they do a play of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.' Kimi had been chosen as Veruca; the role was laughable. Kimi was such a nice girl, and Violet was such a pest. Neither of them knew how she would pull it off.

She did, though, and she did it rather well. Zack had to admit that she wasn't perfect in everything she did, as she often looked back down at the script, and had carried along a silly, oversized, dress, though her performance was stunning and he felt that she'd gotten the expressions down perfectly.

She'd always been a great actress – an actress that he missed dearly.

Ever since he and his aunt had moved to Wheeling, the miserable place, he hadn't seen much of her or heard much of her. He tried to call her every Friday, though there were times when the phone frankly wasn't available, and she was left without a call from him.

Zack could still hardly believe that he hadn't gotten enough time to tell her about his feelings for her. Years, he'd kept quiet about it, somewhat fearful of rejection, though he'd gotten enough strength and courage to get over it before the Emica concert, only hoping that she'd return his feelings.

Time flew, however, and he never got the chance.

There was no use in telling her over the phone, he knew. He felt that it would be better to tell her face-to-face, whenever that day would come.

Sadly, it obliviously wouldn't be coming anytime soon. After all, he was a grumpy eleven-year old lying in bed, his immune system having seemingly failed him, while his Aunt Celeste, who wished that he wasn't sick just as much as he did, tiredly stirred tea and poured medicine for him.

He heard her footsteps and cane as she walked into the room.

He recalled the school bully referring to her as 'blind as a bat,' because she was visually impaired. That wasn't to suggest that he hadn't nearly gotten into a physical confrontation with the jerk, that is.

If he were in a better mood, he might've chuckled as he remembered what his comeback had been.

"With your low level of intelligence, I'm surprised that you could figure out that she was visually impaired at all – if you even know what _that_ means," Zack had responded.

Though a very small part of him was upset with his Aunt Celeste because she'd gotten a new job here, and because he couldn't go back to Yucaipa, that wasn't to say that he wouldn't stand up for her. He loved his Aunt Celeste, and knew that it wasn't her fault that they'd moved to Wheeling. In fact, judging by what she'd said about it, he was, more or less, pretty sure that she hated the place just as much as him.

She walked in and instructed him to stand up.

"Zack, sweetie, it's time to take your medicine," She told him.

He scorned and pouted, though wasted no time in getting up. Dreadful or not, he didn't want to be any trouble.

'She's had just as difficult of a day as me,' Zack reminded himself.

Zack took small gulps of the Tylenol, wrinkling his nose a few times.

Once he'd finished, his Aunt Celeste handed him a glass of water.

"Here. Have this. Swish it around your mouth. It'll get the taste out of your mouth."

Without further ado, he did as told, before spitting the water out in the sink.

"You can drink your tea whenever you'd like. I'd suggest that you do in about two minutes. I have to call my job and tell them that I'll be at home today. Oh, and Zack? Don't worry about it, it's okay, it's not your fault. You couldn't have stopped this from happening even if you wanted to. Besides, my job is extremely stressful. I needed a break."

He nodded slowly as she walked out of the room, holding the cup carefully and taking small sips of the tea in-between every minute.

Lukewarm, it was. Similar to the tea that he'd always have at Kimi and Chuckie's house.

It felt… homely. Drinking it, he nearly felt as if he were back in Yucaipa, where he longed to be.

After six minutes, he rested his head back on the pillow, and his body back on the bed. He couldn't claim that his bed was as horrible as this experience, though he could say that the bed felt nothing like it had at home.

Yucaipa was the only place that he'd think of as home, with Kimi, his friends, his memories…

And he missed it all.

He pulled the covers up a bit. It wasn't cold, though he always had better dreams whenever the blanket was covering his full body.

The windows were closed. As soon as he'd woken up, complaining of a headache and a stuffy nose, his Aunt Celeste had slammed the windows shut, promising to stay home with him and take care of him.

With that, he slowly shut his eyes.

 **(end of section)**

 **Yes, I'll admit that this was more of a Zack-centered chapter than a Zack/Kimi chapter, but I really wanted to write more about Zack, especially since I was late on this section, as an apology of some sorts to celrock for having this up so late, and for returning over a week late.**

 **I'm hoping to upload a one-shot Rugrats/Inside Out crossover after this, and maybe a Steven Universe one-shot, before I go to bed.**


	6. Comfort

**While searching through my Microsoft Word stories, I found this one that I'd written on the same day that I'd seen Zootopia. Of course, if you've seen the movie, you might remember what happened at the beginning. If you don't want that scene spoiled for you, then you might not want to read this section, since it was inspired by the first scene of the movie.**

 **Zack is owned by celrock, and, I'm still very glad that she's letting me use her character for this story.**

 **THEME: Comfort**

On a Saturday morning, Kimi, Zack, and his Aunt Celeste were at the park. Unfortunately, Kimi's older brother, Chuckie, had gotten the flu the day before, which was why Kimi had been the only Finster child invited to have a play-date with Zack. Not wanting Kimi to grow sick from being around Chuckie, her parents had accepted, which was why Kimi was currently at the park with Zack and his aunt. They had just arrived, and Zack's Aunt Celeste had already gotten all of their toys out of the trunk.

"You two go ahead and play in the sandbox now," She told them. "Remember, I have two bags of toys in case you want more to play with."

"Okay," the two said in response. They walked over to the sandbox, pulling out the toys that they'd brought to play with first.

"Do you wanna build a sand castle?" Kimi asked Zack. Zack smiled, nodding. His eyes widened.

"Oh, I got a new toy that will help us make a really good sand castle," Zack remembered. "I remember putting it in one of the bags." He stood up. "I'll be right back, Kimi." He stepped out of the sandbox and walked over to his Aunt Celeste.

"Okay," she called back. Kimi had been sitting on the yard, playing with her two new dolls, when a much taller boy walked over.

"Hey, do you know the name Chuckie?" The kid asked. "Chuckie Finster?" Smiling, Kimi nodded.

"Yeah," she replied. "He's my big brother. My mommy met his daddy when we were" -

"So, you're Kimi Finster then, aren't you?" He asked, walking a few steps closer. If Kimi were being honest, his tone scared her, though she didn't say a word about it.

 _Maybe I have the wrong idea. I bet he's a really nice kid._

The boy didn't bother telling her what his name was. Instead, he grabbed her by the shirt.

"Your stupid brother had his friend tell me off," He explained, gritting his teeth. "Told me to leave that nerd alone." He let out a huff. "Well, I didn't see a reason too, and then that kid picked a fight with me, and do you know what that purple-haired brat did?"

"N-No," Kimi said, her eyes full of tears. The bully grinned, and let go of her for a minute. What he did next was much worse than gripping her shirt; he pulled her pigtails, making her flinch. He then spoke.

"These kiddie pigtails of yours," he commented, laughing. His voice was so very chilling that she shivered, fearing what he would do next. "I mean, for peep's sake, you've been wearing them since you were - what, two years old?" In response, she sniffled; her throat felt funny, and all she wanted to do was cry. The bully, however, wouldn't take this as an answer. He gripped onto her shirt harder, staring coldly into her eyes. "Answer me, pigtails! How long have you been wearing this stupid hairstyle?" Knowing that there was no way out, Kimi would've answered; that is, if Zack hadn't come over.

Zack ran over as quickly as he could over to the bully.

"What are you doing?" Zack asked angrily.

Shocked, the bully dropped Kimi. Wanting to see if she was okay, Zack glanced down at Kimi. However, what he saw angered him. In the green grass sat Kimi, who had wet tears running down her cheeks. He didn't need to take a second glance to see that she felt unsafe.

Without hesitation, Zack marched over to the bully, who had a nasty grin on his face.

"Are you this stupid kid's boyfriend or somethin'?" He asked. "You sure do look like you have bad taste, after all." Zack growled.

"To start, even if me and Kimi were dating, I wouldn't have bad taste because of that," Zack told him. "In fact, Kimi's pretty and nice. I don't even see why you decided to bully her in the first place." The bully chuckled as though it were the funniest thing on Earth.

"So you do have bad taste!" He said, snorting. "This kid over here looks just as good as a rat, I tell you what. And as for the 'bullying' thing, kid, this isn't even anything close to 'bullying.' I'm just showing her who's boss!" Clearly unhappy with this comment, Zack scowled.

"Kimi looks a lot better than a rat, and that's a fact," Zack stated. "And you know what? You remind me a lot of another kid I know. Her name is Angelica, and she'd probably say the exact same thing that you just said."

The bully rolled his eyes. "What? And do I look like I care, shorty? Go run back home before things over here get serious. I'm just letting you off easy, you know. I could beat you and your little girlfriend into a pulp right now if I wanted to."

At the mention of 'girlfriend' Zack glanced down at Kimi, who watched them fight with a look of despair. Realizing just how much the fight was affecting her, Zack looked back up at the bully with a serious look in his eyes.

"Look," Zack began, "I don't know why you were bullying Kimi, but my point is that I _never_ want to see you doing it again." Zack crossed his arms, trying his best to be reasonable. "I don't want any trouble here, so could you just leave me and Kimi alone?" Taking this as a sign of weakness, the bully smiled.

"Good then, I guess you're gonna leave as a loser, shorty," the bully replied. "I don't know what I expected, though. I'm always winning." Zack, however, wasn't finished.

"You might think that you'll have won once me and Kimi get out of here, but anyone with a brain will know that you haven't," Zack told him. "Before we go, though, I have one question for you." He took a few steps closer to the bully, a mean scowl on his face. "What did Kimi _ever_ do to you?" Scoffing, the bully began to bring up the incident with Chuckie and Tommy.

"Well, last week, when I was here, I was showing this rat's brother that I'm the boss" -

"That's not what I asked," Zack interrupted. "I asked what _Kimi_ did to you. Let me say it again: What's Kimi ever done to you?" The bully tugged on the collar of his shirt.

"That's not the point" -

"Yes, that _is_ the point. If Kimi never did anything to you, why are you bullying her?" The bully blinked.

"Well, I had to get revenge on _someone_ for what those two little" -

"But that's not fair."

Upset, the bully clenched his fist. "And life's not fair, kid! What's your point?"

"My point is that you didn't have a reason to bully Kimi, and I think you need to say sorry to her."

"Sorry?" The bully made a sound of disagreement. "The day I'll say sorry to a pigtailed _baby_ will be the same day that I'm in a grave."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Who cares if it doesn't make sense? The point is that I" -

"What's with all the yelling over here?" A voice asked. All three of them looked up to see Zack's Aunt Celeste; her hands were on her hips and she looked confused.

"This boy was just bullying Kimi," Zack explained, "so I asked him why and now he's yelling." While she could not see the boy because of her visual impairment, she could sense another presence.

"Where is the person, or the people, that take care of you?" She asked the boy.

"That's none of your beeswax" -

"How rude," she interrupted. "Yes, it _is_ my business. You are not allowed to bully someone - especially not Kimi or Zack - and expect to get away with it." It was rather clear that the bully felt intimidated by her, though tried his best to hide it. "Now, _where_ are the people that take care of you?"

"M-my daddy's over there," the bully mumbled, pointing to the location. While his aunt could not see where the bully had pointed, Zack began walking in the direction of the bully's father.

"Follow me, you three," Zack told them. They all nodded, following Zack over to the direction of the bully's father.

Once they'd reached him, the man looked up in surprise.

"What's going on?" The man asked.

"Excuse me, sir, we're sorry to bother you, but your son was bullying this little girl right here," Zack's Aunt Celeste told the man.

"He said that he was trying to show us 'who's boss'," Zack explained. Immediately, the man stared down at his son with anger.

"Luke, why would you do that?" He asked his son.

"W-well, I was just trying to prove that I'm a man, like Uncle Billy always says," the boy, now revealed to be named Luke, explained.

"That's no excuse!" The man exclaimed. He sighed before looking up at Celeste, Zack, and Kimi. "I really am sorry that this happened. Perhaps we could give you some money so that you won't" -

"Actually," Zack's Aunt Celeste interrupted, "we don't want money. We want an apology from little Luke over here."

"Luke," the man said, glaring at his son, "apologize to this little girl."

"But daddy" -

" _Now_." Luke sighed with sadness before turning to Kimi.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"Louder," his father insisted.

"I'm sorry," Luke said, finally giving Kimi a normal apology.

"Will that suffice?" The man asked Celeste.

"Yes," Celeste said, scowling. "I suppose it will." She looked down to Zack and Kimi. "Come on you two, let's go." As they left, she glared at the man. In fact, she was pleased once they'd all gotten in the car and began driving away from the park.

'I'm glad to be away from that man and that boy Luke,' she thought angrily.

The car ride home was silent, seeing as how Kimi was upset and no one wanted to break the silence. In fact, they were all glad once they had reached the house.

"Would you two like some water?" Zack's Aunt Celeste asked.

"Yes, please," Zack told his aunt.

"Alright then," she responded. "I'll bring it right up." The two walked up the stairs of the house to Zack's room, where they both took a seat on Zack's bed. Though Kimi was no longer crying, Zack could still tell that she was upset.

'That's why she's being so quiet,' Zack thought.

"Kimi, it's okay," Zack assured her. " _We_ showed him who's really boss by telling on him today. Now he'll learn not to bully kids like that."

"But Zack, it's not okay," Kimi insisted, tears falling down her face.

"Kimi, really," Zack told her, "your pigtails aren't stupid. In fact, they look really good on you." Kimi sniffled.

"Zack, it's not that," she said.

"Well, what is it then?" He asked.

"I feel so bad because I was stupid enough to trust him," she whispered. "I trust _everyone_ , and, well, that kid made me realize that a lot of the time, the people that I trust don't even care about me." She stared at the ground. "If they're gonna act like that, what's the point in even being nice to people?"

"Kimi," Zack told her, "you shouldn't let other people change your judgement." He smiled at her. "The fact that you always smile even when it's cloudy, and that you like people before even meeting them, can be a bad thing sometimes, but that's not your fault. You're one of the people in the world, one of the people that will smile without a compliment, someone who will compliment the other person back when they're complimented. You're Kimi Finster, not some stupid little girl." Kimi, realizing that he was right, smiled and hugged him.

"Thank you, Zack," she told him. "You're right." She sat up tall. "I'm Kimi Finster. I didn't deserve to be treated like that, and it's not my fault that he wasn't who I thought he was."

"I'm glad that you've finally realized that, Kimi," Zack said, before yawning. "I sure am sleepy, though."

"Me too," Kimi agreed. "It's been a really long day."

"Let's take a nap," Zack said. They both lie down on Zack's bed, and drifted off into sleep.

And that was what they did for the rest of their playdate - sleep.

RUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATSRUGRATS

 **I hope that you enjoyed this section! I've been planning out further chapters of "The Shortman Family," so, you'll probably see an update for that soon, too!**

 **Also, Zack's aunt did eventually bring the water up, but saw that they were sleeping so she put it in the fridge.**


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